Geta puts the bus on the map

Public transport users in Rogaland can now follow their buses on a map that is updated in real time. The service has been developed by Geta.

The map is connected to tracking units on the buses, and is updated every few seconds. This enables you to pick up your mobile and see exactly where your bus is at any given time – or, for that matter, the location any of the other 440 buses in Rogaland.

With the new map, you can see exactly where your bus is in real time.

Kolumbus, the county-municipal owned company that coordinates public transport in Rogaland, is the client. Audun M. Solheim, Strategy and Development Manager at Kolumbus, says that the map is a supplement to the existing real-time system that calculates when the buses will arrive at each stop.

Problem-free launch

“You can see exactly where the bus is. This provides an extra level of certainty since ordinary real-time systems are based on calculations and projections, and are unable to take into account unforeseen incidents that may influence the journey time,” says Solheim.The first version of the map was launched on 1 February, and Solheim considers the experiences gained so far as good.

“We worked with the map for a long time and tested it internally, so we were sure that it was ready for launch. However, we immediately experienced a high level of traffic after launch, and so encountered a number of performance-related challenges. Here, Geta were constantly on the ball and able to solve the challenges in just a couple of hours,” says Solheim.

Audun M. Solheim, Strategy and Development Manager at Kolumbus

Open data

The map is based on standard Google functionality, and obtains open data from the Service Interface for Real Time Information (SIRI) protocol.

“Anyone can create a map like this, but we wanted to make the map ourselves in order to provide our customers with something we can vouch for, and eventually add further information to,” says Solheim.

Geta has been responsible for the development and operation of the Kolumbus website since 2013.

“For us, the challenge was on the technical side of things,” says Valdis Iljuconoks, Team Leader and Solution Architect at Geta.

“The map fetches data from a range of systems every other second, so there is a lot of data to process, and the system needs to be up and running at all times,” says Iljuconoks. The final developed service is however not heavier than it can run on existing hardware infrastructure, and is a natural part of other content at www.kolumbus.no.

Satisfied customer

“We are extremely satisfied with the collaboration with Geta. Our experience is that they deliver on time, give us good advice and are an effective collaborative partner,” says Solheim. He emphasises that Kolumbus has good internal competence within this area, but still feels that it was well worth using Geta.

“We often ask Geta to provide recommendations, and follow these. By ordering solutions from a commercial perspective, rather than a technical one, as a supplier Geta is able to focus on delivering the best possible technical solution,” says Solheim. “This is only possible because of we, as a customer, have confidence in the competence Geta is able to offer.

It is important for us to have a flexible supplier who delivers, but who also highlights better alternatives if they believe we are about to make the wrong decision. As a customer, it is extremely gratifying to have a supplier who finds good solutions to the challenges we throw their way, and who also delivers on time.”

Geta's role in Kolumbus

Geta is responsible for all implementation and further development of Kolumbus web platform on Episerver and Episerver Find.In addition, we assist with advice, training and architecture work, and have set up and are operating the solution in the cloud Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure.

Geta has helped to simplify the website since 2013, allowing it to function optimally for the persons using it. The team assisting Kolumbus consists of experienced solution architects and frontend - and backend developers.